


tales of a great endeavour

by guardianoffun



Category: Endeavour (TV)
Genre: M/M, fairytale AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-10 15:11:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18662905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guardianoffun/pseuds/guardianoffun
Summary: the prince/fairytale au literally no one asked for!!





	tales of a great endeavour

**Author's Note:**

> .......... im not even sorry man. i just... like disney... and i also love not taking things seriously this is the most dumb, lighthearted thing i plan on writing. i have plans for other characters, so when i get the time i'll write more for this au, but never fear i have PLANS
> 
> eventual jarse !!

Once upon a time, in a land cursed with a surprisingly high crime rate, there lived a King. The King, Frederik I was a noble and loving king, loving husband to Queen Winifred, and doting father to three children. His eldest son, Prince Morse, was a quiet boy who much preferred his books to his horse, then there was Sam who was often found amongst the knights. Then there was the princess, Joan who loved to sit by her father’s side while he worked. They were a happy family, a tad unusual in their habit of solving murders by way of pastime perhaps, but a loving family nonetheless. 

Tonight’s story starts in their very own castle, in the library on the fourth floor. The prince Morse was sat at his favourite desk by the window, coloured sunlight flooding through the stained glass windows, splashing gorgeous colours across his pages. As the door was swung open, the prince did not notice who had entered, so engrossed he was in his stories. It wasn’t until the figure passed by his desk that he recognised the elderly figure. 

In his robes of green and gold, Councillor Bright looked every bit the scolar he was. The wisest man Morse knew, advisor to the king and the children’s tutor growing up, had a frown upon his face. 

“Forgive me sire,” he said as he swept past the prince. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.” Morse shook his head. “Not at all, councillor.” 

“The king is looking for you,” Bright said as he moved towards a particular pile of books. His hands began searching the spines of books, obviously intent on one particular title. Prince Morse sighed, closing the book with a soft  _thwump_.   He had some inkling as to what his father wanted. Smoothing out his tunic, the prince stood and made for the throne room. 

He found the king locked in conversation with a knight in shining armour. The crackling fire in the corner sparkled off  steel that had been polished to within an inch of its life. Morse took an instant dislike to such a vain creature. As he approached, King Fred turned to greet him.

“And here he is-” he said, trailing off mid sentence to introduce the prince. The knight spun on his heels, clanking ever so slightly. Morse was struck by the man’s face, which looked as sharp as his sword, and his eye’s, bright as stars. 

Said eyes flicked over Morse, appraising him. Of course, they came to settle where most do; on the circlet of gold around his head, intricate carvings announcing his position as crown prince of the kingdom. 

The knight ducked a short bow at him. 

“Your Highness,” he said, voice all smooth and rich and infuriatingly easy on the ears. Morse prickled. He did not like this man. His father coughed, drawing both of their attention. 

“Morse, this is Sir Peter Jakes. He’s the best of the best of the Guard.” Morse snorted. 

“Can’t be that good, I’ve never heard mention of you.” The king shot him a look, a fatherly sort of glare. 

“Morse!” The knight laughed. 

“I’ve been overseas for a few years,” Jakes said, looking far too proud of himself. “You’ve not had much trouble from Lord Box these past years have you?” Morse gave a reluctant shake of his head. 

“That’ll be my doing, your highness.” Somehow the man managed to smirk with his voice, it was maddening. Morse simply huffed and stared at the fire instead. The king rolled his eyes.

“I happen to have trained Jakes myself Morse, his confidence is well earnt.” The prince was still silent, so the king chuckled.

“Well you’re going to see for yourself soon enough, Jakes here is to be your personal guard.” That gave Morse a jolt, and his eyes snapped up and he very nearly stamped his foot.

“Father!” He was silenced with a commanding wave of King Fred’s hand.

“We’ve heard tell of a dark wizard for a few weeks now, who means to infiltrate our courts. I need to protect my own.” Morse jerked a hand in the direction of the knight. 

“Father I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself, besides if he’s the best he should be protecting Sam, or Joanie-”

“Sam spends most of his days with the knights, he’s hardly in need of a personal guard, and Joanie can handle a sword. Besides, it’s not like either of those two make a habit of wandering into trouble, is it?” Morse looked affronted. His father sighed.

“Son, you know that you’re a bigger target, and let’s be honest, you’ve got a thing for walking headlong into danger.”

“I do no-”

“In the past month, Morse, you’ve been ambushed on a ride, you went looking for a witch because she insulted your mother and you nearly died in that quicksand because there was an ‘interesting specimen’ the other side.” 

Morse, who refused to admit how many times something of that exact nature had happened, huffed.

“This is ridiculous.” The King gave him one final look, then clapped the knight on the shoulder. 

“He’s all yours Jakes,” he said, before making a swift and speedy exit. Morse stared after his father, hands crossed angrily over his chest, cheeks aflame. His eyes met Jakes and he huffed again. Jakes had the audacity to laugh. 

“Your Highness with all due respect, I think that means you’re stuck with me.” Jakes was grinning at him, hands at his hips as if he belonged in the throne room. Morse said nothing, glaring at the knight  with as much venom as he could muster, before turning tail and storming from the room. 

* * *

As the days passed, Jakes became a shadow to the prince. Only shadow was probably the wrong word, because that would suggest something subtle, unnoticeable, barely there. It was actually, as Morse found out, very hard to miss Jakes. If it wasn’t the soft clinking of chainmail as he moved, or the smell of spices that hung around him, then it was his voice, always loud, or it was his smile. It was always something. The prince had a very hard time NOT seeing Sir Jakes.

Especially when he insisted on riding ahead of him on their travels, only to spend most of it glancing back of his shoulder at him, like he was currently.There was something rather unnerving about the way the sunlight cut across his face when he did that Morse did not like it. It was distracting, and very much not helpful when out of nowhere, a bolt of red lightning struck a tree over the prince’s shoulder.

His horse spooked, and Morse found himself flung forward into a tree as another bolt of lightning struck Jakes, knocking him off his horse, gleaming of his armour and setting fire to a tree. As Morse was thrown to the ground, he felt the heat of another crackle fly past him, and barely had time to cry outs before a figure appeared before him. They were wrapped in a cloak, dark energy swirling around them making all light and sound seem seep away.

The prince pulled his arm to his chest, realising through gritted teeth that the fall had snapped it somewhere arms were not meant not snap. The pain made his eyes water, tears sliding down his cheeks unbidden. He could scarce see, especially with the hot summer sun bearing down on them. Through the tears, he could make out the shining glint of Jake’s armour. The knight stood himself between Morse and their attacker, and drew his sword.

That, as it turns out, was the exact moment the prince realised he loved the blasted idiot.

**Author's Note:**

> pls... tell me u didnt hate it lol


End file.
